As an international organization committed to music and preservation of culture and sustainability, we have considered the community application submitted by the DotMusic Limited for the .MUSIC top-level domain, Application ID No. 1-1115-14110. We submit this letter in opposition to that community application.

DotMusic Limited claims in its application to represent the interests of the entire global community, but surely it cannot. We certainly have not granted them permission to act on our behalf regarding the operation of a .MUSIC top-level domain. We also do not consider this applicant to represent the broader interests of a global “music community,” if such a thing even exists.

Contrary to the claims made by DotMusic Limited to garner support ,we understand that all applicants for .MUSIC will be required to protect and enforce the interests of internet users of domain names in

the .MUSIC top-level domain through the implementation of mandated safeguards in its public interest commitments. Accordingly, we consider it more important that the ultimate operator of a .MUSIC

domain have a strong background and considerable experience in operating a domain name registry and employing and enforcing safeguards for the protection of its end-users.

Music by its very nature touches every human being on earth. What may be considered a legitimate musical interest by one person/entity may not be in alignment with the legitimate interests of another – and no one entity should be permitted to hold itself out as the arbiter of all musical interests. As described in the DotMuisc application, it plans to utilize a landrush phase that will be limited to only those entities that have signed up, and perhaps paid a fee, to be considered “member” of DotMusic’s self-operated Music Community Member Organization.

We are concerned that, by claiming to act on behalf of some sort of defined music “community,” DotMusic may be able to unfairly prevent access to domain names by those with legitimate musical interests who may not otherwise satisfy the criteria that a single registry unilaterally creates in what it deems to be the needs of a music “community.”

These restrictions on expression are, in our view, contrary to what music is all about, and would be a disservice to creators and consumers of music globally.

For these reasons, we ask that our opposition is taken into account when evaluating this application.